Driver killed for replacing charas with potatoes

How Harish Sultan Shah alias Bittu expected to get away after substituting 30 kilograms of premium-quality charas with garden-variety potatoes is anybody’s guess. The 25-year-old won’t be able to offer any explanations. Parts of his body were found near Kasara Ghat by cops.

Investigating the murder case of the driver working with a drug cartel, police have finally managed to arrest one of the key accused and have found during interrogations that Bittu stole 30 kg charas that was to be delivered to a party and filled the sack with potatoes.

The accused are in police custody after they murdered Bittu. The car that was pasted with a Thane Municipal Corporation logo by the accused to get rid of the deceased’s body

This act naturally incensed the drug dealers who beat up the driver and later chopped up his body and disposed it off near Kasara Ghat. MiD DAY had reported the case last month.

Whole dope Shahin Sultan Shah, a resident of Hamalwadi in Kalyan (East) had lodged a complaint with Bajarpeth police station on February 12 that her son Bittu, who used to work as a driver with three drug dealers — Rehmat Patthan, Barkat Patthan and Amjad Patthan — had gone missing.

“Shahin suspected her son had been killed by the trio, so unit III of Thane crime branch started investigating the case and nabbed two persons — Yusuf Patthan, and Irshad Shaikh — who used to work with Bittu for the three drug dealers,” said Bhagwan Yeshod, assistant commissioner of police of Ulhasnagar crime branch.

On April 2, cops arrested Barkat, near Fortis hospital in Kalyan. “During interrogation Barkat told the police about Bittu stealing the charas,” said Meghshyam Dhange, police inspector of Ulhasnagar crime branch. The drugs have been reportedly recovered by cops.

Vegged out! When Barkat learnt that potatoes were delivered to the party by Bittu, he, Amjad and Rehmat, along with six other people beat Bittu and later hacked his body to pieces and got rid of the evidence. “We have till now found the head and clothes of the victim,” said Dhange.

The police are now on the lookout for five others who have been accused of involvement in the killing including Amjad and Rehmat, who were the masterminds in the gang.

Investigations have revealed that the murderers used a Maruti Swift embellished with the official logo of the Thane Municipal Corporation to cross a toll naka and thereafter dump the body.

“Bittu had got addicted to drugs and that might be the reason behind him stealing the charas,” said Machindra Chavan, senior inspector of Ulhasnagar crime branch, unit III.